My question involves a marriage in the state of: Illinois
I filed for divorce in November, 2010 and at the time I gave the attorney a 3500 retainer, which seemed high since no property or minor children are involved.
I have met with the attorney on two occasions total: once for the initial filing, the second time was for a one-hour court date resolving temporary maintenance, additionally there have been no phone calls between myself and the attorney. My stb-ex and I are attempting to work out our own divorce settlement and his attorney is the one who goes to court for the monthly status hearings.
So.. that has been the extent of my contact and/or interaction with my attorney. A couple of months back my attorney sent me a statement and on the statement it had things listed that never happened, example: meetings between him and myself and telephone calls. When I said none of these things happened, his assistant revised the bill but charged an hourly fee for doing so.
Now comes today. The lawyers assistant called me and said I need to give them another 3500 because they have exhausted the retainer. How is that possible when the lawyer is not even the one going to court for the status hearings?
My question is first, does this seem right? Secondly, since I cannot afford to hand over another 3500, can I handle the rest of the divorce on my own without a lawyer? If so, what would be my next step?

